The Altai State Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1959. Such great museums as The Hermitage, The Russian Museum, The Tretyakov Gallery and a number of local museums took part in forming its collection. Most of it was received from private collections, studios or brought from expeditions around the region. At present there are more than 14000 exhibits - pieces of Russian, Siberian, and Altai art of the 16-20 centuries - in the museum stock.
The Museum is situated in two buildings in the center of Barnaul. Its main building is an architectural memorial of the 1930s. Its exactly here where the regular exposition opened festively in 1993.